Como Connect attempts to reach riders with new routes

COLUMBIA - The Como Connect city bus system taught people to use the new routes Monday that will start in August. Columbia Transit also sent out surveys to see how Columbians like the idea of the new routes.

The new route system with have shorter, more condensed routes and most will not meet at Wabash Station. Under the new system, if a rider misses one bus, he can easily hop on another one.

"We have timed all these routes so it shouldn't be more than five or ten minutes for the next bus and you can be on your way," said Shannon Hemmingway, Supervisor of Fixed Routes, referring to transfers at connection points.

The Como Connect app, called DoubleMap, makes it even easier for riders. It lets people know when buses will arrive. Riders can also follow the new twitter feed to see if any routes are canceled.

Mary Alverez said she uses the bus routes quite often. The current routes go right in front of her house. But with these new routes, she said she will have to walk quite a ways. She said would like to get a tablet to help her use the app.

Columbia Transit will have more meetings to help riders get used to the new routes. The next meeting will take place July 10 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and another will take place July 11 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Even if riders cannot make it to those meetings, they can ride free the whole month of August to try the new routes.

[Editor's note: This story has been edited to add the name of the bus app, as well as to clarify the timing of buses at connection points.]